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UK roads see more dented vehicles

Britain's roads boast more than a million vehicles that have been damaged in an accident but whose drivers can't afford to have them repaired, a new study indicates.

The Accident Exchange, which carried out the research, says that the safety of tens of thousands of the vehicles has been compromised by dents and scrapes caused in minor accidents but their drivers are likely not to be aware of the risk.

Between 2006 and 2012, the price of petrol revved up sharply and the yearly miles travelled by cars decreased by more than 9 billion miles, representing a 2.9% decline. Over this period the number of accidents stayed about the same, though the numbers officially reported to authorities dropped by 2.2%, and the number of vehicle repairs recorded plunged by 21%.

The percentage translates into an estimated 1,092,000 motorists in the past year alone who chose not to take their vehicles into a garage for repair after a road accident.

Drivers are doing their utmost to bring down the cost of insurance premiums. With the sustained economic uncertainty taking its toll on household budgets, there has been an increase in "delayed repairs".

"The double whammy impact of losing their no claims discounts and paying increased excesses on insurance claims has seen the number of private settlements between fault and non-fault drivers rise. The innocent party is then choosing to pocket the money rather than seeking to repair what they see merely as cosmetic damage," Accident Exchange chief executive, Steve Evans, said.